Senses
by emmylouuwho
Summary: After 4.04, Jess visits Becker and talks Abby & Connor into going along. One-shot. Separate from my other Jess/Becker stories.


**Author's Note: Finally have some time off from theater work, and getting over some writer's block. This can be like a prequel to my other Jess/Becker stories, or stand alone. Whatevs. Enjoy!**

**As always, I own nothing but a love for the show and some very ratty red Chuck low-tops that need replacing soon.**

_We're just friends checking in on another friend,_ Jess reminded herself as she knocked on the door. Abby and Connor stood behind her, Abby with a six-pack of beer in hand and Connor with two paper bags of takeout in his arms. Abby still had the reluctant look she'd adopted when Jess convinced them to come with her, and Connor was smiling in a knowing way that Jess would've found irritating if she weren't distracted by the noises coming from behind the door.

The three of them heard shuffling footsteps, a gasp of surprise, and a _thud!_, quickly followed by a loud curse. Jess looked back at the others, eyebrows raised in concern, but Connor simply responded with a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders.

The door opened and Jess whirled around to come face to face with a red-faced Becker. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea_, she thought, now faced with an irate, injured soldier.

"What're you three doing here?" he asked, his face losing some of its anger as his eyes swept from their faces to the food, then the beer, then the plastic bag from the video rental in Jess' hand.

"Hey mate. Jess made us come to make sure you weren't dead," Connor said, handing one of the bags to Becker as he passed between him and Jess and entered the flat.

Jess immediately turned bright red. Abby took the bag back from Becker and followed her boyfriend, heading in the direction of Becker's kitchen.

"Excuse him, I had to drag him away from World of Warcraft, and now he's crabby," Abby said, rolling her eyes as she passed.

"Come on in, Jess. Everyone else has," Becker said with a resigned smile.

She smiled back apologetically, and stepped inside. _At least he seems somewhat happy to see me. Us. Happy to see __**us**__._ Jess matched Becker's pace as he hobbled into his living room.

"How are you feeling? You OK?" She stepped over a shoe on the floor, wondering idly if that was the source of the earlier thud. She looked up as they entered the living room, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. She could tell from the bookshelves, on which books and DVDs were organized alphabetically (_OCD much?_), that this was normally a very clean, organized room. However, it seemed that in the day and a half that Becker had been forced to remain home, it had turned into a disaster area. Dirty dishes sat on the coffee and end tables, clothes were strewn across the back of the couch and the floor. Clearly, Becker didn't deal well with sick days; he was a wallower.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about the mess," he replied distractedly, clearing off the coffee table and tossing a few articles of clothing behind the couch. Jess didn't miss the way he gritted his teeth as he slowly turned to sit down.

Becker sank onto the couch with a groan, propping his injured leg on the coffee table in front of him. While Abby and Connor were busy in the kitchen getting plates and utensils, Jess sat nervously beside him, careful to sit on his right, opposite his injury. Jess could feel his body heat radiating from his upper arm and thigh where they nearly touched her own. She looked straight ahead, fiddling with the hem of her skirt, not sure what to say, how to end the awkward silence that was stretching out between them.

* * *

><p>Becker cut his eyes across to Jess sitting primly next to him, carefully avoiding contact despite the fact that he'd been bitten on the other leg. He grinned at her discomfort; it was obvious and adorable.<p>

"You were worried I was dead?" he said teasingly. "What were you expecting? That Connor would have to break down my front door, and you'd find me lying on the kitchen floor? No, Abby would be more likely to do the door breaking..." He trailed off, looking over in confusion over her uncharacteristic silence.

He'd been trying to tease her back into her normal chatty self, but he realized his mistake when she looked up at him with those wide blue eyes that he was always getting lost in, only now they were filled with horror. _Wow. Tactless,_ he chided himself. It had been less than forty-eight hours since Jess had witnessed, over CCTV, him attacked in a school kitchen and wondered if he were alive or dead.

"Don't," she said softly. "Don't even joke about that."

"Sorry," he said. "Just trying to cheer you up."

"By talking about finding your lifeless body? You've been spending too much time with Connor. His weird sense of humor is rubbing off on you."

Some of the playful twinkle was back in her eye as she flashed him a grin, but the sadness and fear were still there as well. As though of its own volition, his arm came up around her shoulders, giving them a friendly, reassuring squeeze. But then she laid her head ever so gently on his shoulder, a few strands of her auburn hair brushing against his neck, and it no longer seemed like the friendly gesture he'd meant it to be. His grip on her shoulders tightened slightly, and she moved closer so that they were barely touching, legs brushing against each other, her arm pressed against his side. He could feel her breath through the fabric of his shirt, and he could've sworn he could hear her heart beating in the silence. Her hair smelled vaguely floral (_jasmine maybe?_), and the characteristic scent of warm metal and plastic associated with computers clung to her clothes. He felt the soft cashmere of her cardigan under his fingers, and the warmth of her body seeped through the fabric into his hand. Several pieces of her long hair tickled his thumb and index finger where they lay on her shoulder.

* * *

><p>Jess felt Becker's arm move about her shoulders, giving them a squeeze. She didn't know what he meant by the gesture, but at that moment she didn't care. He chuckled at her jibe about adopting Connor's sense of humor, and she could feel the noise rumbling through his chest. She loved that sound, and the feeling of it reverberating through his chest and into her own body. He needed to laugh more often.<p>

She leaned her head against his shoulder, breathing in. Under the clean smells of soap, deodorant, and laundry detergent, he smelled of leather, engine grease, and something that might've been gunpowder. She smiled._ Even injured, he still loves his guns._ And there was something else, something familiar that she couldn't name, but was just _Becker_.

* * *

><p>Jess' head snapped up, and Becker belatedly noticed that Abby and Connor were walking in, several takeout cartons in Connor's arms while Abby carried forks balanced atop a stack of plates under one arm, the six-pack in her other hand. Jess faced forward again, looking up at the others with a bright smile, but he noted that she didn't move away from him. He felt the warmth of her leg through the fabric of his sweatpants.<p>

* * *

><p>Abby felt very pleased with herself as she walked into Becker's living room to find him with his arm around Jess' shoulders, her head resting on his shoulder. Keeping Connor distracted in the kitchen a few extra minutes had clearly paid off. She glanced over as Jess sat up straight and Becker's arm moved surreptitiously from her shoulders to the back of the sofa, and saw that Connor was smirking. Just as he was about to open his big mouth and ruin the moment, Abby stepped purposefully on his foot, giving him a meaningful glare. Thankfully he took the hint, shutting his mouth with a snap.<p>

"It's lucky I found any clean dishes at all," Abby said with a pointed look around, trying to smooth things over.

Becker rolled his eyes, grumbling good-naturedly, and everything went back to normal between the four of them. Or as normal as they ever were.


End file.
